Screaming and Pulling Hair

There are EXT drafts in the system that no one will get rid of! I've already graded more than my share of the horrible things, and no one else is doing them, so by the time I've spent all that time doing drafts that take three times longer to grade, all the other graders will get nice short ones, courtesy of my labor! I'm entitled to some real papers too, but I doubt I'll be seeing any. My frustration oozes out.

Office problems seem to have been taken care of. I'm not sure what that was, but I know how to combat it now: I simply have to be the most cheerful, peppy, talkative creature I can imitate, and there is grudging eye contact. Score! Really, though, I think things will be getting better.

I called the phone company today. They sent me a flyer detailing their long distance plan, and the last time they did that, they covertly tacked on a huge charge that I had to pay. For NOT calling them immediately and having them take me off a list I never asked to be placed on. So. I called immediately, and was very polite. The woman on the other line (who began by informing me that she intended to make me a happy customer) insisted that my bill wasn't being altered in the least bit, and I argued that I had been under that impression the last time and had ended up paying a lot more than I had signed up to pay. We went back and forth until I was marginally satisfied that they weren't jacking me again, and then I simply informed her that if they intended on charging me after this conversation, I was going to contest it.

She then tried to sell me no fewer than five items or services, including Internet, more phone options, cell phone service, cell phones, cordless phones, additional lines, and something about a calendar, I'm sure. I told her over and over again that I was happy as I was, unless they charged me for long distance. I finally told her that she was making me an *un*happy customer by continuing her marketing ploys, and she let me go with an apology. I fled with a thank you. I think it was a success.

All in all, it was a good day. The weather was beautiful, classes went well. Just a few hiccups, that's all. Little things like SBC and Extended Studies drafts. That's what EXT means. Extended Studies.

It's getting to be late now, or at least, it's about the bedtime I've been strictly setting for myself. Nevermind that I still find it nearly impossible to drag myself from the bed at nine am. I could have the same groggy, reluctant morning whether I slept by midnight or by three am. It's the getting up hour that has me miserable. I keep telling myself that I will soon be accustomed to it, and all will be well, but I've been trying this out almost since I got back, and it hasn't been pleasant so far. Here's hoping.

End.